Recently, telecommunications devices have evolved rapidly from bulky, simple, wired rotary dial telephones to intelligent wireless “smart phones” complete with powerful CPU's and Color LCD displays. These intelligent wireless communications devices take many forms, and frequently include additional features such as still or video cameras. Many of these devices also come equipped with memory and even expansion slots for the addition of portable memory and file transfer capability. Telecommunication services have also evolved rapidly from simple telephone calls and fax communications to a plethora of advanced user services. Voice mail, call waiting, call blocking, call forwarding and call return are just a few examples of the advanced user services offered to telephone customers.
To keep up with the demand for ever more sophisticated user services and the ever more powerful and capable new generation wired or wireless communication devices, telecommunications networks have also evolved from simple switching networks like the Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN) to “Intelligent Networks” and even “Advanced Intelligent Networks” offering services far more advanced than simple voice calling. These new intelligent networks enable service providers to offer advanced services due to larger more powerful computing devices managing the networks. These intelligent networks also allow network architecture that enables network accessibility to third party vendor partners offering niche services desired by the consumer, but not necessarily palatable to the carrier, through high speed fiber or wireless connections. Examples of types of network and network protocols include but are not limited to: UTMS, PCS, CDMA, WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, PCS, EDGE, and GPRS.
Caller Identification (or caller ID) is a well-known example of a service that has gained ubiquitous use with telephone customers. Caller ID is a telephone on-hook capability that provides a called party with information about a calling party before the call is answered. Conventionally, such information includes the date and time of the call and the caller's telephone number. Additionally, a caller's name may also be provided to the called party subscriber in what is known as an “enhanced caller ID” service. The information is typically displayed on a display unit connected to or built into the telephone. Current caller ID technologies include mobile telephone applications where called parties may designate a particular identifier for a particular phone number, or even more than one identifier for a particular phone number. Mobile phone and caller ID technologies have advanced such that identifiers may now include ring tones and graphical displays.
While there exists the ability to add images to a phone for association with a particular phone number, the images are not necessarily representative of the person placing the call. To match a caller ID with a picture of the caller, a user must first take a picture of the caller, upload the picture of the caller to the communication device to be used, via a computing device if the communication device is not equipped with a camera, and then specifically and manually assign the image to the locally stored contact data in the communication device. Should the user have more than one communication device, and the particular contact exist in each of the devices locally stored contact data, this arduous process must be repeated for each device.
Despite the advances in telecommunications network technologies, services, and telecommunication devices, a need still exists for enhanced devices and networks that enable automated retrieval of picture and/or contact information, while still allowing users the ability to control what types of information or images are sent to a requesting device.